Former Connecticut police officer jumps to aid of downed Massachusetts state trooper after Chicopee shooting

The Republican | George GrahamWard Hamilton, of Enfield, a former police officer in the New Haven, Conn., area, talks about rushing to the aid of Massachusetts State Trooper George Vasquez after Vasquez was shot twice by a gunman at 102 West St. in Chicopee early Friday morning.

CHICOPEE — Ward Hamilton said he was just starting his work day on Friday morning at Central Oil, a short distance away from the scene where Massachusetts State Trooper John Vasquez was shot, when he heard somebody yelling about “some guy with a gun and police officer has been shot.”

When the Enfield resident, a former police officer in the New Haven area, heard the gunfire for himself, he ran toward the noise to see if he could help.

“I guess I went back into cop mode for a little while,” he said.

Hamilton talked about the scene at 102 West St., where a gunman shot Vasquez in the left hand and thigh while Vasquez responded to a 911 call of shots fired.

Hamilton said he saw the wounded Vasquez and that he, another state trooper and a Chicopee police officer got him into a Chicopee cruiser.

“The trooper took a round to the legs and to, I guess his hand ... from behind, I know that,” said Hamilton, his hands still crimson with the trooper’s blood.

The injured trooper’s marked cruiser “was just strafed by bullets, right out of Hollywood, right out of Hollywood, “ he said.

Hamilton said the shooter was on the front porch of the home. “He had the front door propped open and he was just ... I mean it was OK Corral time.”

Vasquez was conscious and alert. “We kept telling him he’s OK, he’s OK,” Hamilton said. “He hadn’t lost any color in his face and that is usually a good indicator, he was alert and focused. He was able to talk and that for me was a relief.”

Hamilton said the shooter had long, silvery hair. “He looked like an older gentleman,” he said.

The Chicopee cruiser then left the scene with Vasquez, leaving Hamilton and the other trooper in the street. “I just got down,” Hamilton said. “I am not on the job anymore.”

Hamilton, still struggling to recall the series of events in his mind, said much of it was surreal. As gunfire was going off, a number of people were sitting in the parking lot of a nearby Dunkin Donuts, talking on their cell phones, unaware of the horrific – and potentially deadly – drama that was unfolding.

“People were banging on the (vehicle) doors yelling ‘Get out! Get out!' ” Hamilton said. “One woman was just talking away. I banged on the car, I said ‘Listen, get out! get out!’ She got out her passenger side door, I think. Little things are just starting to click back to me now.”